Dear Cashing In,I read about some cheap airfares to Iceland, and I was thinking of going
there with my mom to see the northern lights. I have a bunch of American
Express reward points that I want to use. I thought you could use them on any
airline, but when I go online to book the tickets, I can’t find the flights.
What am I doing wrong? – Carrie

Dear Carrie,There are several different
ways that credit card reward points can translate into free flights. Some are
more difficult than others. The most obvious, of course, is with an airline
credit card: Those miles go directly to your frequent flyer account, and you
cash them in for flights if there is availability.

There are also credit cards
that allow you to use points to wipe away any travel expense that you have
charged on the card, in the form of a statement credit. Cards in this category
include Capital One Venture* (annual fee: $59, waived first year) and
Barclaycard Arrival* (annual fee: $89, waived first year).

In a third category, the one
that you are talking about, there are cards that allow you to accumulate points
in a card issuer’s rewards program, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, American
Express Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou Rewards. You can then redeem these
points for travel in two ways: either transfer them to a participating
airline’s frequent flyer program, or book travel through the issuer’s online
portal.

Although those portals allow
you to book flights with a variety of airlines using points, they do not
include all airlines. Typically, they will include major carriers, but exclude discount airlines. This probably explains why you have not
been able to book a flight to Iceland using points. My guess is that the travel
portal is suggesting flights on a larger carrier, which probably cost more in
money and points than similar flights on discount carriers. I have heard from some travelers that by calling the card issuer and sending them a link to a discount ticket not found on their portal, you may get them to honor the price and allow you to use your points. However, it’s not a guaranteed way to get the discount ticket with rewards.

Lately, international
discount carriers have been boosting flights to Iceland from the U.S. Some
offer free stopovers in the country’s capital, Reykjavik, en route to Europe.

Those flights can be very
inexpensive. Looking on the website of WOW Air, I found flights in February
2018 from Boston to Reykjavik for $220 per person round trip. From Chicago, I
found flights for $320. That’s a great deal. Be warned, though, that discount
airlines charge extra for almost everything, including assigned seats, checked
baggage and even carry-on bags larger than a purse or small backpack. Iceland
in February might not be everybody’s idea of a fun time, but if you’re looking
for the northern lights, you could certainly spend a lot more money.

Ordinarily, you can book
flights through American Express and use reward points at a rate of 1 point per
cent, which would mean that trip from Boston would be 22,000 points. But you
cannot book flights on WOW Air through American Express. The cheapest I could
find from American Express in February was $359 for a round-trip on Icelandair,
or 35,900 points, and that includes a checked bag and carry-on. From Chicago,
the best American Express could do was $459 round-trip on Icelandair, or 45,900
points.

To save money, discount
airlines such as WOW Air often don’t allow outside companies to sell their
tickets, so the only way to get their cheap fares is to book through their
websites. This forecloses the opportunity to use reward points on discount
carriers – unless you have one of the cards mentioned above that gives you a
statement credit for a travel expense of your choosing.

Discount airlines can offer
great deals. But unless you have the right card, those deals are available
chiefly to people who pay them in cash, not points.

*The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date. Please see the bank’s website for the most current version of card offers.

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